Detritus Accumulation

[FchriReefID]

I've been trying to lowering my nitrate level with frequents water change and decreased feeding on my 15 gallon nano but it barely have any affect on them, the phosphates was normal at 0.03 ppm but the nitrate was at 50 ppm. I haven't got an algae problem yet, but few corals are closed particularly the zoas. The nephtheas seems unbothered and the toadstool have been closed for weeks now, idk if that happened bcs of the nitrate spikes or just their natural habits. I only got two fish in there (Banggai cardinal & yellow watchman goby).

I noticed something that maybe the culprit of the nitrate spikes. In one of the rocks I keep seeing a detritus accumulation in that particular spot, I always clean that area when water change but few days later it already filled with detritus. When I observing it closely, I noticed that the detritus was coming FROM THE ROCKSS, there's something that shoots poop from tiny hole in the rocks. I don't know what critters did this but I want to get rid of it.

Soo any idea what that is and how can I stop it from shoots more nasty stuff in my tank, I don't want to throw the rocks tho, and should I begin dosing to drop my nitrate?

 

[easycoral]

he absence of polyps in soft corals indicates a problem with the water quality.

 

[Subsea]

Nice looking live rock. How long has tank been set up? I see no problem with some detritus in the microbial food chain.

Mulm in Dirty Fish Tanks: What Is It and Should You Get Rid of It

Mulm is a dirt-like substance that comes from decomposing organics in an aquarium. Find out whether it’s harmful or helpful & how to hide its appearance.

www.aquariumcoop.com

This is what @Paul B says about MULM

"Mulm" in a reef tank

I think one of the most important, and least understood or mentioned things in a reef tank is "mulm". That stuff that grows in the dark portions of a tank if it is set up long enough. "Mulm" is a combination of algae, sponges, bacteria, pods, worms, detritus, poop and any thing else that can be p...

wamas.org

What kind of macro algae do you have that would consume the nitrate?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What type of filtration do you have on the system? How much and how often do you feed your fish? The filtration system might not be adequate if you can't keep the nitrates lower.

Detritus collecting in one area might mean that you need more flow, or rearrange the flow direction...

Several times a week I grab a turkey baster and blast my rocks to clear the detritus out of the holes and cracks in the rocks.

 

[skiergd011013]

Are you against going bare bottom? You could siphon out 25% of that sand per water change, then just siphon out any waste you see per water change. Bare bottom tanks are much easier and cleaner.

 

[Subsea]

I've been trying to lowering my nitrate level with frequents water change and decreased feeding on my 15 gallon nano but it barely have any affect on them, the phosphates was normal at 0.03 ppm but the nitrate was at 50 ppm. I haven't got an algae problem yet, but few corals are closed particularly the zoas. The nephtheas seems unbothered and the toadstool have been closed for weeks now, idk if that happened bcs of the nitrate spikes or just their natural habits. I only got two fish in there (Banggai cardinal & yellow watchman goby).

I noticed something that maybe the culprit of the nitrate spikes. In one of the rocks I keep seeing a detritus accumulation in that particular spot, I always clean that area when water change but few days later it already filled with detritus. When I observing it closely, I noticed that the detritus was coming FROM THE ROCKSS, there's something that shoots poop from tiny hole in the rocks. I don't know what critters did this but I want to get rid of it.

Soo any idea what that is and how can I stop it from shoots more nasty stuff in my tank, I don't want to throw the rocks tho, and should I begin dosing to drop my nitrate?

Withdrawn polyps on leather coral is a normal.
process. Chemical warfare between softies is also normal.

How much water change are you performing on 15G tank to lower nitrates? Consider using macro algae to lower nitrates and also consider using granulated activated carbon to reduce DOC, Dissolved Organic Carbon.

 

[FchriReefID]

Nice looking live rock. How long has tank been set up? I see no problem with some detritus in the microbial food chain.

Mulm in Dirty Fish Tanks: What Is It and Should You Get Rid of It

Mulm is a dirt-like substance that comes from decomposing organics in an aquarium. Find out whether it’s harmful or helpful & how to hide its appearance.

www.aquariumcoop.com

This is what @Paul B says about MULM

"Mulm" in a reef tank

I think one of the most important, and least understood or mentioned things in a reef tank is "mulm". That stuff that grows in the dark portions of a tank if it is set up long enough. "Mulm" is a combination of algae, sponges, bacteria, pods, worms, detritus, poop and any thing else that can be p...

wamas.org

What kind of macro algae do you have that would consume the nitrate?

The tank has been set up for almost a year now (10 months)
I had a grape caulerpa species that turns out to be invasive and a hitchhiker macro, maybe dragon breath/tongue's, idk. All the macros are in the main tank bcs I don't have a sump

 

[FchriReefID]

What type of filtration do you have on the system? How much and how often do you feed your fish? The filtration system might not be adequate if you can't keep the nitrates lower.

Detritus collecting in one area might mean that you need more flow, or rearrange the flow direction...

Several times a week I grab a turkey baster and blast my rocks to clear the detritus out of the holes and cracks in the rocks.

I built a diy internal sump on the side of the tank, run on white filter sponge (mechanical), ceramic ring + coral stones (biological), and activated carbon sometimes
I feed the tank once every 2 days now, I usually feed them everyday but after the problem got worse I cut feeding
I already installed a wave maker to assist my return pump, but there's always a dead spot where flow is very minimum
And I always blast the rocks and suck all the detritus accumulation in the tank whenever I did a water change, but it keep coming back, there's something (critters) that keep loading this crap

 

[FchriReefID]

Withdrawn polyps on leather coral is a normal.
process. Chemical warfare between softies is also normal.

How much water change are you performing on 15G tank to lower nitrates? Consider using macro algae to lower nitrates and also consider using granulated activated carbon to reduce DOC, Dissolved Organic Carbon.

About 10-15%. I use natural sea water

 

[Poseidon03]

About 10-15%. I use natural sea water

How often are the water changes? Personally, I'd do 15% water changes every other day until the nitrates are below 20.

Leathers not having polyps out at 50ppm is unusual. I've personally seen 80+ppm and the leathers still look happy. I'd recommend running some activated carbon and changing weekly. I've had a correlation between a large leather and not being able to add other corals even when icp, nitrates, phosphates and other parameters were within normal ranges. I started running carbon again and within weeks, everything looked better (could have been a contaminate, which is why I said correlation).

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I built a diy internal sump on the side of the tank, run on white filter sponge (mechanical), ceramic ring + coral stones (biological), and activated carbon sometimes
I feed the tank once every 2 days now, I usually feed them everyday but after the problem got worse I cut feeding
I already installed a wave maker to assist my return pump, but there's always a dead spot where flow is very minimum
And I always blast the rocks and suck all the detritus accumulation in the tank whenever I did a water change, but it keep coming back, there's something (critters) that keep loading this crap

The filtration system has no nutrient export. Example of nutrient export is activated carbon, protein skimmer, refugium, water changes, carbon dosing.... You should change or clean the white filter pad often, or else it holds rotting food until the you clean it. I would suggest more frequent water changes since that is the best way to reduce nitrate.

Biological filtration on a salt tank is with the rocks, there is no need for extra biological filtration.

I would suggest to point your powerhead upwards to break up the surface and help oxygenate the water. Flat water surface is not good.

 

[FchriReefID]

How often are the water changes? Personally, I'd do 15% water changes every other day until the nitrates are below 20.

Leathers not having polyps out at 50ppm is unusual. I've personally seen 80+ppm and the leathers still look happy. I'd recommend running some activated carbon and changing weekly. I've had a correlation between a large leather and not being able to add other corals even when icp, nitrates, phosphates and other parameters were within normal ranges. I started running carbon again and within weeks, everything looked better (could have been a contaminate, which is why I said correlation).

I do it weekly on the weekends
Most of my coral are leather, Soo there's must've been chemical warfare everytime
How often do you change the activated carbon btw and are you running them constantly or just when the coral look unhappy?

 

[Subsea]

About 10-15%. I use natural sea water

Depending on where you collect NSW may be an issue.

Also, inorganic nutrients are tracked with ICP test;
however organic nutrients that are byproducts of photosynthesis are grouped as DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon). This group of DOC is composed of llipids, proteins & carbohydrates which are food for bacteria as well as building blocks for all organic matter. However, in our closed systems these organics build up.

So let’s talk “nutrient management”. Your live rock is an ecosystem that is processing inorganic nutrients and with the energy of photosynthesis combines the organic with the inorganic world.
The organic byproduct of photosynthesis is being produced faster than it is removed from the water column.
Two methods to remove inorganic nitrate would be water change or sequestering the nitrate into the biomass of fast growing macro algae whose N to P ratio is 30:1.

 

[CHSUB]

Good advice here, imo. However, I would blow rocks, like a hurricane and do a very large WC maybe 80% with water of the same temp, Alk, sg, etc. Then continue with 20% weekly WC with the same vigorous cleaning and monitor feeding so fish eat in a few seconds. After a month see if it helped? If not add more filters that can remove waste immediately like a Skimmer.

 

[Poseidon03]

I do it weekly on the weekends
Most of my coral are leather, Soo there's must've been chemical warfare everytime
How often do you change the activated carbon btw and are you running them constantly or just when the coral look unhappy?

When I had mostly softies, I'd replace it biweekly. Now, I only intermittently run carbon since upgrading and going mostly sps. There have been some correlation between carbon and tangs that is rather avoid if possible, but I also want to keep my corals happy.

 

[VelocityTech]

I would atleast do a %50-70 water change asap. Then test again.

Since the tank is rather small, you can easily bring those nutrients levels down with water changes. Then work on your fix in maintaining the lower levels. More biological diversity, etc.


I would do the large waterchange, test and report back.

Good luck! Happy reefing

 

[exnisstech]

he absence of polyps in soft corals indicates a problem with the water quality.

Could also be the lights haven't been on long.